Bang With Friends facilitates casual hookups on Facebook

If you're looking to get a "bang" out of your Facebook friends on Valentine's Day, there is an app for that.

Bang With Friends is a controversial app that, as the name implies, is supposed to be no-nonsense way to learn which of your friends is interested in having sex. The app's logo and introductory screen shot leave no doubt about its intent.

Since launching on Jan. 23, the app has "already hooked up over 100,000 couples," according to an e-mail from the three California college students who created the app.

"It began as a result of a drunken night of coding when we discussed the dishonesty and other issues with online dating, then took off on its own from there," said the students, who have not publicly revealed their names or college.

The app has also been called "The Evilest App Ever" by the student-oriented group InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA, which says finding Facebook friends with benefits can only hurt loved ones, lead to marital infidelity and add unnecessary emotional baggage.

BWF's creators said they "humbly disagree."

"This is very real - our 600,000 users in (less than) three weeks tell us that the unabashed, honest approach is something that resonates with our generation - Generation Y," the e-mail said.

The app lists Facebook friends, allowing a choice of males, females or both. Clicking a "Down to Bang" button below each profile picture sends a message. Both sides are notified only if the prospective banger responds, and then it's game on.

The app also keeps score of celebrities people say they want to bang. On Wednesday, Jon Stewart was just ahead of rival TV show host Stephen Colbert, 300,000 to 294,000.

This sterile tech approach to sex and romance comes at the same time as a new survey commissioned by the online dating service AnastasiaDate. The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, found that 1 in 4 American men "are too lazy to go out and find the woman of their dreams and of those who do, one quarter are too nervous to speak to a woman whom they find attractive."

But 74 percent of men and women surveyed also said technology has made dating easier and 55 percent believe online dating let them know about the person before committing to an actual date.

Still, with technology like Bang With Friends, who needs romance?

Indeed, there has been a "steady escalation" of technology-related sexual problems during the last 10 years, said Robert Weiss, director of intimacy and sexual disorders programs for Elements Behavioral Health clinic in Los Angeles.

Apps like Bang with Friends aren't necessarily bad if all you're looking for is casual sex, which for some people is like going to the gym, said Weiss, co-author of the books "Cybersex Exposed: Simple Fantasy or Obsession?" and "Untangling the Web: Sex, Porn, and Fantasy Obsession in the Internet Age."

But overreliance on such technology could make it harder for some people to develop the dating and social skills they need to find more lasting, emotionally satisfying relationships, he said.

"If you're 22 years old and you don't have a date on Valentine's Day, but you're guaranteed to hook up ... why take the time to take someone to dinner?" he said. "There's a much lower skill set required to get laid than there used to be."